February 16, 1996

Present:

Minutes

Status of Infrastructure Upgrade
Bob McLaren reviewed the agreement
that the IfA signed with GTE Hawaiian Tel in August 1995 for
long-term network services from Mauna Kea to Hilo and Waimea.

Status

HP to Humuula Section

During past 6 months IfA has tried to complete the permitting
process for the Humuula-HP fiber run. The process included:

Environmental Review

Federal Endangered Species Act Review (informal)

Permission from the Army because part of the fiber run
will pass through the Pohakuloa Training Area.

Historic Preservation Review

Conservation District Approval

We are currently at the last step and hope to receive approval
from the Dept. of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) soon.

The IfA is responsible for the construction of the conduits
running from HP to the HELCO sub-station. Wallace Oki has
completed the plans for the 2,500 ft run and we expect the
bidding process to be completed in Q2/96 with anticipated
construction by Q3/96.

Cross Saddle Section

DLNR has determined that a new Conservation District Use Permit
is required for this portion of the project. This will result
in several months delay because a public hearing will probably
be required. GTE Hawaiian Tel is responsible for this portion
of the project.

SMA Section

The Smithsonian conduit work comprises extension of the common
ducts from HH 25 to HH 31. The bids came in slightly under budget,
allowing us to proceed with the full scope of the upgrade. The
physical construction by Isemoto will begin in April 1996 with
expected completion during Q2/3 of 1996.

Once the new conduits are in place, and new fibers for MKONet
and GTE have been installed, it is the intention to release
the old conduits between HH 27 and HH 31 for inter-facility
use, e.g. interferometry. The fiber pull on the summit is most
likely determined by HawTel's schedule.

Summit Communications Room Renovation

Preliminary plans have been drawn up for the renovation of the
summit communications room. The next step is to hire an
architect to finalize the plans and prepare bid documents.

Questions

What is the bandwidth capacity to Waimea and when
is it available?
Upon completion of the HP to Humuula Section, a total of 1
DS-3 circuit will be available from the Mauna Kea to Waimea.
This is limited by the availability of bandwidth from Humuula
to Waimea. Similar capacity exists between Humuula to Hilo.
Once the cross island fiber has been installed, there will be
11.5 OC-1 circuits going to either location.

What are GTE plans for fiber distribution at Hilo
University Park?
We will look into this question.

JPL/Keck ATM Experiment
JPL in conjunction with Keck are conducting an experimental ATM link
connecting the Keck Observatory, Keck base facility in Waimea, and JPL
by means of fiber, microwave, and satellite technology. Most of the
sections have been tested, however, there appears to be some problem
at the UNI (user network interface). GTE and Newbridge are trying to
solve the problem.

Internat Access
Keck voiced some interests in combining funds to get
a observatory link to the Internet.
(Local T1 access to commercial ISP is about $2,500/mo
+ FR charges of about $650/mo).

Next Meeting
Thursday, May 30, 1996, 10:00am at CSO (subject to change).